Autopsy instrument



March 10, 1959 i J. N. WILLIAMS AUTOPSY INSTRUMENT Filed Dec. 27, 1957 INVENTOR JOHN N. WILLIAMS ATTORNEY United Sttes Pare This invention relates to an autopsy instrument.

It is frequently necessary, in autopsies, to remove the skull-cap of the deceased in order to provide access to the brain. This is a delicate and diflicult procedure requiring great skill and dexterity and the use of special tools and instruments.

The object of this invention is the provision of an instrument which may be used in quickly and easily removing a skull-cap without the usual risk of damaging the brain and without the usual concurrent danger of injuring the hands of the person performing the autopsy.

The principle involved herein is leverage. ment consists of two major components, one of them comprising a lever and the other a gripping or hooking element. The lever bears at one end upon one side of the skull-cap and its opposite end constitutes a handle. The gripping or hooking element engages the opposite side of the skull-cap and it is itself connected to the lever. When the handle of the lever is moved in a direction away from the skull-cap, the opposite end of the lever functions in the manner of a fulcrum upon the first mentioned side of the skull-cap and the gripping or hooking element is thereby caused to pry the skull-cap off. Of course, the foregoing procedure is preceded by sawing around the crown of the skull in conventional manner, and a wedge may be hammered into the saw line in order to loosen the skull-cap from the base of the skull.

An important feature of this invention is the fact that the gripping or hooking element is a hammer-shaped member with a wedge-shaped blade which may be driven into the saw line. Once this is done, the instrument may be used to pry off the skull-cap in the manner described.

Another important feature of this invention is its adjustability and adaptability to various conditions which are faced in this kind of work. The hammer and wedge element which is also the gripping or hooking element is provided with a shank that is adjustably secured to the lever component in order to adapt the instrument to skulls of different dimensions. It will be understood that there is no prescribed skull-cap size, and that the location of the saw cut may vary in each individual case, but the instrument is adjustable so as to adapt its proportions to these conditions.

Another feature of the invention is the value each component of the instrument has as an individual tool. The lever component is useful as a tool adapted to pry connected tissues apart. The second component may be used as a wedge or as a hammer, reference being had, of course, solely to autopsy operations.

The instrument above described may be used in conjunction with a hook, the hook engaging one edge along the saw cut, and the instrument engaging the opposite edge. This hook is not claimed herein and is not absolutely essential to the functioning of the instrument proper, but in practice it is preferred that both be used together.

The instru- 2,876,776 Patented Mar. 10, 1959 The invention is illustrated in the accompanying draw ing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the instrument herein claimed and the associated hook, showing them in operative posi tion in connection with a skull-cap following the sawing operation.

Fig. 2 is a top view of said instrument.

Fig. 3 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the several components of said instrument.

Fig. 5 is a view of thehook element shown in two positions.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be observed that the instruice ment herein claimed consists of two major components held together by a third component. The first of these components is a lever element 10, the second is a gripping or hooking element 12, which may also serve as a hammer or wedging element, and the third is a thumb screw or set screw 14 which holds the first two components together in adjusted positions relative to each other.

Close inspection of lever element 10 will disclose the fact that at one end it is provided with a handle portion 10a and at its opposite end is a curved tapered portion 10b. Intermediate the two ends is an enlarged portion 100, through which a square hole 10d is formed. Transverse of said square hole is a tapped hole 14a. It will now be observed that component 12 is provided with an elongated square shank 12a and a head element 12b secured to one end of said shank. This head element has a square end 12c which functions as the striking face of a hammer and a tapered relatively sharp end 12d which functions as the gripping or hooking element above mentioned and also as a wedging element.

Shank 12a fits into square hole 12d and is slidably disposed therein. Set screw 14 engages the tapped hole 14a in order to contact the shank 12a and to lock said second component 12 into selected position relative to the lever component 10. When these two elements are locked together, the instrument is ready for use.

The operative position of the instrument relative to skull 20 is shown in Fig. l. The skull-cap 20a is shown severed from the rest of the skull by a saw cut 22 which extends around the skull and is produce-d in conventional manner and by conventional means. What remains is to pry the skull-cap away from the rest of the skull Without damaging the brain tissues or injuring the hands of the person performing the autopsy.

The curved end 10b of the lever component 10 corresponds, substantially, to the curvature of the skull, and it is this portion of the lever component which restsupon the skull cap at or adjacent one side thereof. The relatively sharp end 12d of the head of component 12 is placed in the saw cut 22 at the opposite side of the skullcap and, if necessary, a hammer is used to strike the square end 12c in order to drive said relatively sharp end 12d into the saw cut. Since end 12d is a tapered or wedge-shaped end, this has the effect of lifting at least one side of the skull-cap away from the rest of the skull. However, this is not the primary purpose or use of element 12b.

The lever element 10 may now be pivoted with curved end portion 10b serving as the fulcrum for such pivotal movement. As shown in Fig. 1, handle 10a is moved downwardly and in clockwise direction. Element 12b now serves as a gripping or hooking element which engages the skull-cap and pulls it away from what remains of the skull.

It may be found desirable to hold the lower part of the skull while the skull-cap is thus being pried away. It will of course be understood that this may be done manually, but preferably use is made of hook-shaped element 30. This element has an open handle portion 30a which may be engaged by the hand, and it has a pair of laterally spaced hooks 30b and 300 respectively. These hooks are adapted to engage the base of the skull at the saw-eut on opposite sides of hooking element 12b. The base of the skull may thereby be held downwardly, as viewed in Fig. 1, while the skull-cap is pried upwardly.

The foregoing is illustrative of a preferred form of this invention and it will be understood that this preferred form may be modified and other forms may be provided within the broad spirit of the invention and the broad scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. An autopsy instrument of the character described, comprising a lever element and a hooking element secured thereto,-said lever element having one end adapted to function as a fulcrum relative to a skull-cap which is severed from the base of a skull by a saw cut, and having an opposite end adapted to function as a handle to pivot the entire instrument relative to the skull, said hooking element being adapted to engage the skull-cap at said saw cut to pry the skull-cap off the base of the skull in consequence of such pivotal action, the first mentioned end of the lever element which is adapted to function as a fulcrum being curved to conform to the curvature of a skull-cap.

2. An autopsy instrument of the character described, comprising a lever element and a hooking element secured thereto, said lever element having one end adapted to function as a fulcrum relative to a skull-cap which is severed from the base of a skull by a saw cut, and having an opposite end adapted to function as a handle to pivot the entire instrument relative to the skull, said hooking element being adapted to engage the skull-cap at said saw cut to pry the skull-cap oil the base of the skull in consequence of such pivotal action, the hooking element comprising an elongated shank and a relatively sharp, tapered element secured to one end of said shank and adapted to function as a hook, the lever element having a hole formed therein and said shank being slidably disposed within said hole to adjust the position of said relatively sharp, tapered element relative to the lever element, a locking member being provided between said lever element and said shank to lock the shank in fixed position relative to said lever element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 300,968 Hatfield June 24, 1884 1,975,773 Davis Oct. 9, 1934 2,272,114 Haist et al. Feb. 3, 1942 

